Bloodbath
by Cogg
Summary: The crew is having a normal day in blood gulch, until the covenant attack. What will unfold? Watch people make sacrifices, watch them bleed, watch them fight and fall...Based off Red vs Blue: Authors Edition.


**This story was influenced by a thought, numerous cans of Pepsi Next and some fast-paced songs for the action scenes. Hope you enjoy.**

"Flush!" Awriter said, grinning. He slammed his cards down on the table, showing off his 5 and 9 of hearts. He reached in, grabbing the large pile of chips in the middle of the table, before Lili put her hand in front of him. She grinned.

"Full House." She said, barely able to keep down a laugh as Awriter's face dropped. She placed her cards on the table, before dragging all the chips over to her. She looked back at Awriter, whose face was a pale as a grunt who had walked into a Spartan changing room. She couldn't help it, and laughed as he fell to the table in quiet sobs. Colezilla watched from the corner of the room, while Lightning and Bluetongue argued about the last training session they had.

"…And finally, the rockets didn't need to be filled with shrapnel, they were dangerous enough! And don't even get me started on the grenades! Who goes and stuffs explosives full of diet coke, then pull the pin and let a Mentos drop into it?! You're lucky my head didn't come off!" Lightning shouted at Bluetongue, who simply rolled his eyes.

"You wouldn't be yelling at me if I had thrown it at the reds…" He muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile, outside, JZ and Spritey heard the arguing and the sobbing while scanning the perimeter for reds. JZ sighed while Spritey gave a quiet laugh, before returning her eyes down the sights of her gun. She shivered and looked up, as clouds slowly covered the area. Spritey frowned. It never normally got cloudy, and, if anything, it looked like it was going to rain. Spritey just shrugged it off, before returning to her duty.

JZ, however, saw something Spritey didn't. Something that chilled his very blood.

"Son of a…" He muttered. Spritey turned towards him.

"What's got you so scared?" She asked. JZ said nothing, but simply pointed, off into the distance, just over the rim of the canyon, coming from the direction of red base. Spritey followed his fingers trajectory, and her jaw fell open.

It was a covenant cruiser. An entire covenant cruiser. Her stomach dropped, thinking of her chances of possibly killing it, when she saw something. "Oh no…this isn't good…" She murmured. Another one was coming from the east. Two more from the west. And Spritey would bet her bottom dollar that there were more on their way.

JZ quickly ran back inside. Once he was out of sight, Spritey changed the frequency on her radio, switching to the red team's channel, a private channel.

On the other side of the canyon, Cogg sat in a chair, aiming down the sights of his sniper, just slowly glancing left and right. Over to his right lay Ace, who was aiming down the barrel of her gun, watching for any trouble.

Cogg's radio started going off.

"Cogg, you there?" It was Spritey. Cogg fell out of his chair in surprise, sprawling onto the floor, getting a weird look from Ace. He ignored it, simply replied.

"Yeah, what's the problem? You sound low." He said, frowning.

"We have a situation…" Spritey paused. "Look over the edge of the canyon…"

Cogg looked up and his face dropped. He saw a covenant cruiser moving from behind blue base. He snapped back to his radio.

"How many?" He asked.

"I see one coming from behind your base, and three more from the other sides. Don't think this is going to end well…" Cogg spun, sprinting inside, shoving past a startled Ace, who was wondering what got him scared.

Cogg ran down the hallways of red base, until he ran into Petch. He fell onto his butt, rubbing his head, while Petch just stumbled.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Petch asked.

"Covenant…attack…Blood Gulch…" Cogg panted, before pointing out in the direction of blue base. Petch walked outside, beholding a covenant cruiser, moving quickly over blue base. Her eyes widened, she snapped towards red base.

"Cogg! Get the warthog!" She shouted, and Cogg scurried off. Petch turned towards Ace. "Give me an estimate of how long till they get within range of attack." Ace nodded, scanning the cruiser. "Unknown, Big Z, Zoey, Guy!" Petch shouted, heading for the arms locker. Big Z ran up to Petch, the footsteps of the others following closely behind him.

"What is it?" Big Z said.

"Covenant are attacking…we've got to stock up." Petch said, throwing open the arms locker, grabbing a shotgun, a sniper, and two pistols. By now, Unknown and the others had caught up; Unknown quickly grabbing another sniper, while Zoey and Guy grabbed DMR's and pistols. Big Z quickly snatched a battle rifle and an assault rifle, before Ace's voice came over their radios.

"Bad news. The cruisers are ten minutes away, max, and they've cut our communications back to command. We're stuck here." She reported. Petch stepped outside, looking up at the warships.

"Looks like we're going to need help…" Petch muttered, before changing her radio channel.

Blue base's atmosphere was suddenly different to what it had been two minutes ago.

JZ had just reported what he and Spritey, who was now standing beside him, had seen.

Lightning had immediately stopped scolding Bluetongue, listening intently to JZ. Bluetongue, upon hearing the word "Attack", ran for his weapons.

Lili had forgotten about her winnings, standing up, knocking her chair over in the process.

Awriter did the same, reaching for his energy swords.

Colezilla started calculating their chances of retaliation.

Lightning squinted and frowned.

"Five _entire _cruisers?! We wouldn't be able to handle one!" He proclaimed, as Bluetongue ran in, rocket launchers in hand.

"**Chance of survival is a low 0.0983 percent.**" Colezilla pointed out. Awriter glared at him.

"Thanks, we really needed to know that."

"**You are welcome.**"

Blue base went quiet. They would most likely die if they stayed, which gave them one option.

"Lili!" Lightning began. "Get a connection with command, get them to send whatever evacuation they have, we need to get out of here!"

"That won't work." A voice said over the radio. It was Petchricor. Lightning paused, before replying.

"Why not?" He said.

"Our connection with our command is cut. And, we can only assume, yours is too." She said. Lightning glanced at Lili, who nodded in agreement.

"I suppose you have a plan?" Lightning replied. There was a pause at the other end of the line.

"I have one, but there is a problem…" Petchricor said, trailing off. She continued. "We work together, hold off as many of their forces as we can. While this happens, get a couple of our soldiers to configure our teleporter to get us anywhere but here. Only problem is, it's gonna take time…" Lightning understood.

"Alright, we'll set our guys up, get over to your base and help you out there." Lightning replied, before turning off the radio. "Lock and load people!"

Spritey pulled out her energy sword and went to get a few old mongooses out from behind the base, while Colezilla pulled out a shotgun, following Spritey.

Bluetongue was rummaging inside one of the storage lockers, shoving multiple grenades onto his belt, while Lili was putting a fresh clip into her DMR.

Lightning's hand fell on an assault rifle, tossing it and a couple of SMG's towards JZ. He caught them, running out to join the others, along with Awriter.

Lightning quickly grabbed another couple of assault rifles, before jogging outside with the others.

The roar of several Mongooses filled the silent air at red base, as four mongooses leapt over the hill. The one with Spritey and Lili onboard skidded to a perfect halt, as did the one with Colezilla and JZ. Lightning parked next to them, as the final mongoose with Awriter and Bluetongue flipped and crashed into the wall of red base.

Bluetongue picked himself and his rocket launchers off the ground, cursing the entire time. Awriter stood up, dazed.

"Ow…" He said, falling back on his butt. Petch walked up to Lightning.

"Okay, we got Guy working on the teleporter, can you spare anyone to help him?" She asked. Lightning nodded, turning to Colezilla.

"You're up Colezilla."

"**Affirmative.**" Colezilla quickly moved up on top of the base, crouching next to Guy. Petch turned to the rest of them.

"Alright, we've got the warthog, which Cogg's gonna drive. Unknown and I will take a mongoose and make our way onto the cliff, where we will provide cover. Z, JZ, Lili, Zoey, Ace and Awriter will defend Colezilla and Guy. Lightning and Spritey, you go passenger and gunner in the warthog. And Bluetongue, you're our anti-vehicle. Take out any aircraft or vehicles they have. Understood?" She stared at them. No one dare argue. It was now, or never. "Alright, let's move people!"

Unknown quickly jumped onto the back of a mongoose, Petch driving it up towards the cliff. Cogg drove up in the warthog, Spritey leaping onto the turret, Lightning pulling out a shotgun and sliding into the passenger seat. As Bluetongue moved behind the base to get a better view of the sky, everyone else took cover on the roof, guarding Guy and Colezilla as they worked. Thirty tense seconds later, the first phantom landed.

The first phantom immediately began deploying a few squads of grunts, jackals and elites, only to be blown apart by a barrage of missiles, courtesy of Bluetongue. He grinned under his helmet, firing another onslaught at the second phantom, which came down as easily as the first. The third managed to get all of its soldiers off before leaving. The soldiers, however, didn't last long.

As the lead elite began giving orders, a strange sound was heard. It sounded…upbeat. It was getting louder…

And with a sudden mix of horror and utter amazement, a warthog roared over the hill, Mexican music blasting from its speakers, before landing on top of the elite.

"Woohoo!" Cogg yelled, as Spritey began blasting away at the many grunts that began fleeing. Lightning quickly fired his assault rifle, his more precise fire taking care of the jackal snipers. Cogg floored the accelerator, running down the remaining grunts, sending them flying.

Further away, two more phantoms deployed their troops, flying off to gather more. The troops charged at red base, firing their plasma weapons with precision.

Lili fired her DMR, taking down one, two, four, eight grunts, all with headshots before having to reload. Z moved into position, battle rifle in hand, firing at the flanking teams. His brother slid into position beside him, taking down an elite major with a grenade.

Zoey and Ace were taking out grunts and jackals, not noticing the shimmers behind them. Ace aimed down the sights of her DMR, only to hear Zoey gasp in surprise. She spun, and saw Zoey pinned to the ground, an elite uncloaking above her. It snapped its jaws at Ace, who aimed at its head, only to be knocked aside by another cloaked elite, whose energy sword hovered above her throat. It roared in triumph as the sound of two energy swords being ignited could be heard. The elite jolted, an energy sword piercing its chest. Blood trickled through the cracks in its armour, as the elite holding Zoey looked up, only to receive an energy sword through the brain. It slumped dead onto the ground, as Awriter withdrew his other energy sword from its fellow comrade. He looked over at Ace and grinned, only to be pounced by a third cloaked elite, its jaws open in a roar, its energy sword millimeters away from Awriter's throat-

_BLAM!_ The elite flew backwards, a sniper bullet tearing through its skull. It fell, blood pooling around it. On top of a cliff, a hundred meters away, Unknown grinned at the headshot he just got. Petch next to him was aiming down her sights at a grunt driving a ghost, and one shot later, the grunt flew away, its head now with a sizeable hole in the front.

Two elites scaled the wall next to the teleporter on red base. They leapt up next to Guy and Colezilla, whose teammates were preoccupied with a large group of suicide grunts storming the base. Colezilla sprang into action. He quickly pulled out his shotgun, aiming it at the head of one elite, pulling the trigger. The elite crumpled, its head having exploded. The other elite tackled Colezilla, the fight going hand to hand. The elite quickly gained the advantage, reaching for its energy sword, only for Colezilla to pull his arm back, and bring his fist at the elite's chest. It didn't just hit him; _it went straight through the elite._ The elite coughed up a bloody glob onto Colezilla's chest, before falling, a hole in its chest. Colezilla quickly returned to work, wires sparking and equations calculating.

The warthog driven by Cogg sped around, ramming all kinds of covenant. Elites, grunts, jackals, Spritey blasted them away with her large machine gun. At one point, an elite managed to jump onto the hood of the car, only to be blown away by Lightning's shotgun.

The ghostly noise of a banshee soon joined the fight, as Cogg looked up and saw it flying towards them. However before it could fire off a shot, two rockets quickly exploded against it, the banshee going up in a shower of sparks. Cogg could imagine the grin splitting on Bluetongue's face at his newest kill. Multiple more banshees soon joined the fight however. Sniper bullets, plasma shots and rockets flew through the sky, banshees exploded and crashed. A banshee fired off a fuel rod shot, forcing Cogg to swerve left, hard. Lightning almost fell out of his seat, holding on for dear life as the warthog went onto its two right wheels, Cogg spinning the steering wheel hurriedly. As they landed back on all four wheels, and Lightning just managed to keep his breakfast down, they drove full speed towards four elites with jetpacks. The elites quickly activated the jetpacks, flying up and landing on the hood of the warthog. Lightning quickly leapt onto the hood, firing his shotgun into the stomach of one elite, as another knocked it out of his hands. Lightning drew his knife, shoving it into the neck of an elite, kicking the body off the car, before elbowing another.

While they fought, the final elite drew his energy sword, only to come face to face with barrel of the warthog turret.

"Hi there." Spritey said, before letting loose with the turret, ripping the elite apart with a storm of bullets. Lightning punched the elite, his knife diving into its chest. The elite stumbled, but grabbed hold of Lightning, growling at him. A bullet whizzed through its skull, the elite falling back and off the car. Lightning turned to see Cogg holding a pistol.

"You all good?" He asked. Lightning nodded, only to watch as the shadow of a banshee covered the warthog. The sound of a fuel rod shot rang out.

Lightning was thrown off the warthog, an explosion sending him flying through the air. He hit the ground, the impact knocking the wind out of him. Images flashed across his vision. Blue and green lights flew past him. Something yellow was glowing. It was warm. Oh, someone was calling him?

Lightning sat up quickly, surveying the area. He immediately regretted it, as his head throbbed with pain. His left leg felt like it was on fire, and he felt something wet and sticky running down the side of his head. Blood? The warthog was on fire, destroyed. Spritey was taking cover, firing an assault rifle at the oncoming hoards of aliens. Cogg lay on the ground, not moving, blood dripping from under his helmet. Lightning looked in horror at the still body of Cogg. Cogg then groaned, and Lightning was reassured for a moment, only to hear Spritey calling him.

"Lightning!" She shouted, taking down a line of grunts, only to be replaced by five more. Lightning limped up to her, drawing his assault rifle.

"What happened?" He said. It hurt to speak.

"A banshee got a good shot on us. Most of the damage was at the front, so I was spared. You were lucky because you were on the hood…but Cogg…" She stopped, and then shook her head. "We're pinned down. We could make a run for that rock, but without any cover, we would be torn apart." Spritey reloaded and threw a grenade, satisfied slightly at the sound of grunts screaming.

Lightning thought about it, judged the distance from the cover of the warthog to the rock. They might be able to carry Cogg to the cover of the rock, but with Lightning's injured leg…

Lightning swallowed, putting his hand out. Spritey gave him a puzzled look.

"Give me your assault rifle." He said, croaking at the pain of his speech. Spritey look at him in confusion, then her face dropped.

"No way, you aren't…" She started, but was stopped by Lightning.

"I won't. I'll catch up. Grab Cogg, and, on my signal, run for the rock. Get in range of sight of the others. I'll get to you, go!" He said. Spritey paused, before handing him her assault rifle.

"You better catch up!" She said, pulling Cogg to his feet, swinging his arms around her shoulders. Lightning said nothing, just nodded, moving to edge of the warthog.

"On my mark." He said. "Three…Two…One…Mark!" He sprinted as fast as he could, firing both of his assault rifles at the massing army of covenant forces. They responded accordingly, concentrating all their fire on the one person. Lightning quickly ran behind a tree, a stray plasma round clipping his injured leg. He collapsed against the tree, clenching his teeth in pain. He looked over to see Spritey move behind the rock, Cogg slowly coming to. Lightning swallowed, before firing again at the army of covenant, only to see an elites foot fly at his face.

Spritey quickly moved behind another rock, placing Cogg against it, who was mumbling strange stuff.

"But it wasn't my fault…the warthog was broken when I got here…"

Spritey turned to see where Lightning was, only to see him kicked down onto his back. He raised an assault rifle, firing a burst at the attacking elite, before it knocked the guns out of his hands and pinned his arms down. He lashed out with his feet, knocking it away, only for a second one to lift him by the throat, energy sword in hand. Lightning locked eyes with Spritey, a silent understanding coming between the two. Spritey grabbed Cogg and kept moving, moving towards red base.

Lightning head-butted the elite holding him, his helmet coming off, and his dark hair showing, blood covering a good half of it. He was dropped; landing on his already injured legs and cried out in pain. He caught a glimpse of Spritey getting Cogg inside the base, and gave a silent plea that everyone would make out okay. A blue light covered his face as he looked up, an energy sword coming down, piercing his back and ripping out the front of his chest. Lightning gasped and coughed, blood filling his lungs. His vision quickly darkened. As he lost sight of the world around him, he wondered if he would ever see any of his fellow gulchers again. Then, he saw no more.

Lili fired her DMR again and again. She caught sight of Spritey, and she sighed with relief. When they had seen the warthog explode, everyone had thought the worst. But then Lili saw Cogg slumped on Spritey's shoulders, and quickly ran down to meet with them. Inside the base, she ushered them in.

"Thank god you're safe, we thought you guys…wait…where's Lightning?" Lili stopped, gun falling by her side. Spritey removed her helmet, tears slowly forming in her blue eyes. She looked at Lili, and then looked behind them. Lili followed her gaze, and her heart plummeted. Lightning lay on the ground, not moving, his blood pooling around him.

Lili opened her mouth, but closed it again, choking down a sob.

"Come on, we…we better get him some help." Lili nodded at Cogg, and helped Spritey carry Cogg inside.

Up on the cliffs, Unknown and Petch watched Spritey and Cogg run into view, before quickly moving inside red base. They resumed sniping, Bluetongue taking care of incoming Banshees on the ground. Unknown watched Bluetongue aim at a banshee, then stop, dropping the rocket launcher and pulling out a pistol. He spun, rolling under the sword of a cloaked elite. He fired his pistol, pulling out another, and firing with it as well, as two more elites uncloaked behind him. Unknown aimed down the sights of his rifle, only to hear Petch shout out.

"Brace yourself!" She shouted, as a banshee suddenly appeared, firing a shot, and the cliff collapsed, and Petch and Unknown tumbled down in an avalanche of dirt and rock, before everything went black.

Unknown stood, dazed. Colours blurred and blended together. His visor was shattered and his arm felt like it had gone through a meat tenderizer.

"God, this isn't going well, huh Petch?" He said, picking up his sniper rifle. He paused when he didn't get a reply. "Petch?" Unknown turned, looking at the pile of rock and dirt. "Petch?" Unknown said, worry filling his voice. He couldn't see her anywhere. He looked around. "Petchricor!" He called out. No reply. Unknown was breathing deeply now, he knelt down and dug through the dirt and rock. "Petchricor!" He shouted. He stopped when he hit something. He shoved his arm in and pulled out an amber scout helmet. Unknown's finger traced the mark of shame lightly scratched on the side.

"Hey! Red! Come on, this place isn't safe anymore!" Bluetongue shouted as he ran up to Unknown, reloading his rocket launcher. He stopped when saw the red leader's helmet in his hands. "Hey, come on. She wouldn't want you to stay here and die now would she?" Unknown leant down, laying Petch's helmet on the ground before standing.

"Let's go." He said, sprinting with Bluetongue towards red base.

Ace and Zoey covered Bluetongue and Unknown. When they got up on top of the base, Zoey asked where Petchricor was. Unknown's silence answered her fears. Unknown turned towards Guy and Colezilla.

"How long till it's done?" He shouted over the firefight.

"I'd say a couple more minutes, we're just about done configuring it!" Guy replied.

Spritey ran up and joined them, handling an assault rifle and firing at the hoards of grunts charging the base. Bluetongue turned to her.

"Hey, where is Lili and Lightning?" He asked, firing a rocket at a banshee. Spritey glanced at him.

"Lili's taking care of Cogg. He was pretty badly beaten." She said.

"What about Lightning?" Bluetongue asked again, firing another rocket, and then chucking a grenade. Before Spritey could reply, Colezilla spoke up.

"**His vital signs have been down for ten minutes and thirty-two seconds.**" He said, never taking his eyes off his work. Bluetongue stopped.

"He's kidding, right?" He said, a hint of worry in his voice. Spritey simply look at Bluetongue for a second or two, before shaking her head, not wanting to look at her devastated teammate. Before Bluetongue could even express his sorrow, a laser, shot from a beam rifle, ripped through his left shoulder. Bluetongue shouted out, falling onto his back and gripping his shoulder, his rocket launcher flying off the edge of the base.

Spritey quickly leapt to his side, nursing his wounded shoulder.

"Banshee!" Big Z shouted, firing at it. It was joined a second, then a third, then a forth. Eventually seven banshees zoomed towards them, firing their plasma weapons furiously.

Ace fired her DMR, which soon ran out of ammo. She tossed it down and rolled away, as a banshee swooped at her, trying to ram her. Instead, she grabbed onto the outer hull, pulling open the canopy and wrenching the elite driver out, before taking his place.

Ace swooped around, firing the plasma missiles at the other banshees, one exploding in a brilliant flash, while another lost it's wing, and dived straight into the ground. However, the four remaining banshees didn't give up, and pursued Ace around the canyon. A banshee fired a missile, which Ace gracefully dodged, rolling to the left, before spinning around, firing a missile right back at it. And as it exploded, she didn't notice the second missile come from behind. She jolted in shock as the banshee's right wing came off in the explosion. Ace fought for the controls, but with no such luck, as the other banshee fired another missile.

She wouldn't be able to get away in time, and, jumping out from this height, she'd most like break her legs and die. She sighed at her final option. And with that, she spun the banshee around and using its speed boost, charged straight at the oncoming banshee.

The result was instantaneous. The second missile collided with Ace's banshee, which left it little more than a flying fireball. With what little control Ace had left, she forced the banshee forward, at full speed, colliding it with the other banshee, and exploding, in a shower of flames and scrap metal, Ace was no more.

Back at red base, everyone was stunned at Ace's sacrifice. However, before they could grieve, the remaining two banshees came closer, firing off missiles.

"Almost…done…" Guy said, tinkering with the teleporter, unaware of the incoming danger. Colezilla saw what was going to happen, and quickly grabbed Guy, and shoved him off the base, leaping after him as the missile collided with the teleporter. The resulting explosion consumed Colezilla, who was sent flipping head over heels, chunks of metal and armour flying off him as he crashed into the outer wall of the canyon. Red base suddenly erupted in a spider web of cracks, as it crumbled, those who hadn't been blown away by the explosion falling off and landing in the rubble.

Lili dived to the ground as rock and debris fell around her as half of red base caved in. Cogg was blasted off the makeshift bed and onto the ground, regaining consciousness.

"What the f-What was that?!" He shouted, reaching for a pistol and a shotgun. He stood, shakily, picking Lili up as well. "Come on, let's go before the rest of the place collapses!" Lili nodded in agreement, following Cogg out.

They came outside to find the groaning form of Awriter, energy swords still in hand. Spritey lay nearby, slowly standing.

"God, I feel worse then Cogg looks…" She said, grinning slightly.

"Hey!" Cogg replied, helping her up.

"I'm kidding! Mostly…" She looked up and ducked as a plasma bolt grazed the pile of rubble behind her.

"Son of a…" Awriter mumbled, standing up. "My head is killing me…"

"And the aliens will too if we don't, move!" Lili shouted, and they all turned and ran, heading for the caves.

Nearby, at what remained of the cliff after the explosion from the banshee, Bluetongue stood, rocket launcher in hand. His left arm was numb from the beam rifle, and it hurt to move it. He gritted his teeth and hefted the launcher onto his good shoulder, firing it into a crowd of grunts. He fired another shot, and a team of elites learnt to fly. As he reloaded, four elites uncloaked next to him. Bluetongue quickly dropped his launcher, lashing out with his foot, connecting with the chest of an elite. It didn't even flinch as it grabbed him by the leg and swung him into the canyon floor.

Bluetongue gasped in pain, as the elite drew an energy dagger, driving it into Bluetongue's side. Bluetongue closed his eyes in defeat, when a sniper shot rang out. The one holding him down was blown away, a bullet going straight through its forehead. Its fellow teammates turned, and received the same fates as the first, dropping like flies.

Bluetongue warily stood, blood pouring out his wound. He turned, expecting Unknown to be standing with his sniper rifle, but instead, he was met with the face of someone he thought dead.

Petchricor stood, sniper rifle in her right hand, her scout helmet in the other, panting as her black hair fell down around her. Scratches covered her armour, as did bits of dust and rock.

"You good?" She said, panting. Bluetongue simply nodded and grimaced, standing slowly, grabbing his rocket launcher and reloading it. Petch placed her helmet back onto her head, and looked around.

"What happened?" She asked. Bluetongue was silent before responding.

"Lightning got killed and that Ace girl got blown up, as did the teleporter. I don't know what happened to everyone else." Petch growled, kicking a large rock away.

"Damn it…I'll miss them…" She said, before reloading her sniper rifle, looking around. "Without an escape route…we're stuck here…" She started, before gunfire interrupted her thoughts. She looked over, to see Big Z and JZ standing, surrounded by a circle of covenant, firing their weapons as the enemy charged. Petchricor turned to Bluetongue. "Grab a mongoose, they're going to need some help."

Big Z was having a tough time. He had fought covenant before, gotten his fair share of wounds from it, but never this many. He stumbled back from a grenade explosion, backing into his brother, who simply raised his assault rifle, as Z pulled out his battle rifle in response. They stood back to back, looking down the eyes of the hoard of aliens.

"This looks like it's it." Big Z said, aiming down the sights of his rifle.

"Could be." JZ replied, flipping the safety off on his assault rifle.

"It's been nice knowing you."

"Ditto." And with that, the two brothers sprang into action.

Big Z got on one knee, spun around and aimed past his brother, getting a headshot off three grunts in a millisecond, while JZ simply spun and let rip with the assault rifle, tearing an elite apart with his onslaught. Big Z rolled forward as four elites rushed out to meet him. He shouldered one away, firing a burst into its throat as two of its teammates rushed forward, energy swords slicing through the air. Z rolled backwards, lashing out with his feet and knocking one over, before blocking the energy sword of the third with his rifle. The sword sliced through it like a warm knife through butter.

Z recoiled and drew his knife, ducking under the elites next swing, stabbing it in the neck before letting the body drop to the ground, Z spinning his knife around. He heard the roar of an elite and moved sideways dodging a pouncing elite. As he did so, the second elite stood, energy sword in hand, and lunged at him. Z simply ducked as the fourth elite pounced again, and ended up impaled on his teammates blade. Before the second could fathom what just happened, he felt strong arms grab his head, and with a sudden _CRACK!_ He dropped to the ground, his neck broken, Z standing over his dead body.

JZ was having a bit of trouble as well. He fired his assault rifle into the chest of an elite, wounding it, before sticking it with a plasma grenade and kicking it into the crowd of covenant surrounding them. Screams of grunts were heard as the elite exploded in a flash of blue, and two more elites appeared. As if that wasn't enough, a jackal with a beam rifle aimed down the sights, aiming at the head of JZ, who moved quickly.

He sprinted and jumped, kicking the first elite in the face. The elite stumbled back, its comrade moving forward, igniting its energy dagger as it swung it fist at JZ, who caught it, shoving the dagger straight into the heart of its owner. The elite slumped, and JZ grabbed the body, moving forward, using the body as a shield to block the shots from the jackals beam rifle. JZ shoved the body away and drew his knife, somersaulting over the head of the jackal, grabbing the jackals hand, and putting the knife to its throat, aiming down the sights of the beam rifle, straight at the head of the first elite. JZ pulled the trigger, killing the elite, before slitting the jackal's throat.

JZ quickly ran back to his brother, tossing him his assault rifle, before drawing two SMG's. They returned, back to back, to hear the sound of a roaring engine. Two mongooses knocked through the crowd, knocking grunts and elites aside. Atop the mongooses sat Bluetongue and Petchricor.

However, one grunt with a fuel rod emerged from the crowd. Bluetongue saw it, and leapt off his mongoose a split second before the grunt pulled the trigger, blowing the mongoose to pieces. Bluetongue stood, seeing his only chance of escape go up in flames, and growled in anger. He ripped the rocket launcher off his back, firing it at the grunt, watching it explode in a fireball of rage.

As Big Z got on the back of Petch's mongoose, they saw the other mongoose go up in an explosion. Z looked over at his brother, who simply drew his SMG's and nodded towards them.

"Go. We've got this." JZ said. As he did, Petch saw Bluetongue in the background, having somehow acquired a gravity hammer, no doubt from one of the covenant soldiers, and was going crazy with it, grunts, jackals and elites were flying everywhere.

Z had one last look at his brother before Petch revved the engines, taking off through the crowd of covenant, leaving the two blues with the bloodthirsty hoard.

It was a long fight.

JZ ran through the crowd, spinning and flipping, firing his SMG's rapidly, cutting down anyone who stood in his way.

Bluetongue was murdering any and all covenant soldiers. He swung his hammer into an elite, sending the poor thing flying through the air. Another swing, and three grunts were gone as well. However, the soldiers soon got smarter. An elite dodged the hammer, punching Bluetongue in the stomach, right in the wound he had received from the energy dagger. Bluetongue roared in pain, dropping the hammer. The elite kicked him, sending him sprawling onto the ground. Bluetongue heard an energy sword ignite, followed by another, then another. Around twenty elites swarmed the crumpled form of Bluetongue, and, as one flipped Bluetongue onto his back, it drew the sword back, and plunged it into Bluetongue's chest.

It felt like someone had ripped open his chest, filled his lungs with boiling water, then throw some piranhas in there for good measure. Bluetongue gasped as blood trickled out of his mouth. He looked over at JZ, to see him get lifted into the air by an elite, and then get stabbed by an energy sword. Bluetongue squeezed his eyes shut, and slowly, painfully, reached his right hand to his belt. And, as Bluetongue's fingers grabbed the pin of the grenade, he almost grinned.

"Sayonara…Split jaws…." He coughed, before pulling the pin. And, three seconds later, in a flash of yellow and orange, Bluetongue, along with twenty elites, was gone.

JZ's eyes went wide, despite the pain in his chest, when he saw Bluetongue pull the pin on the grenade. He squeezed his eyes shut.

_One…two...thre-_

The explosion knocked JZ and the elite holding him away. JZ collided painfully with a tree, slumping against it. Blood painted his chest red, a colour he found to be ironic. He tried to laugh, but winced at the pain the wound had caused. He grimly looked at the blue sky, which slowly vanished from his sight.

_If I'm dying…_JZ thought…_It's going to be looking at something blue…_And with that thought, he smiled, letting the darkness take over.

The elite stood back up, sword in hand. It saw JZ, eyes staring at the patches of blue sky through the grey clouds. The elite trudged up to him, pulling the sword back to strike-

But stopped, when he realized that the blue armored human wasn't moving. Not even breathing. It paused, feeling for a pulse. Nothing. It roared in triumph as the first drops of rain fell down, washing away the red blood off of JZ's unmoving, pale face.

Unknown sat up, and immediately regretted it. His head buzzed like a hornets nest, and his chest felt like it was on fire. All he remembered was him tackling Zoey off the roof…he heard something crack…and Zoey had cried out…someone was helping him up? Unknown's eyes refocused, to see Petchricor standing in front of him.

"Come on!" She said, looking behind them. "We have to get out of here!" Unknown warily stood, watching as Big Z ran by and helped up Guy, while Colezilla, who had lost chunks of metal plating and armour, whirred a bit. Unknown saw Big Z then pick up Zoey, who gasped at her injured leg.

"Any new deaths?" Unknown asked, receiving a slight humming sound from Colezilla, before he replied, stuttering as sparks flew out of his exposed circuitry.

"**C-c-ca-ausalities are as f-follows: Four d-d-ead and four mis-m-missing.**" He shakily stood, scanning his features. "**P-power capacity is-is at 24%. Dr-draining a-at a ra-rate of 0.02438% a second. Im-mediate re-repair is requi-requi-required.**"

Unknown shared a glance with Petch, who shook her head sadly. There would be no time to give Colezilla his much-needed repairs. The sudden ignition of an energy sword could be heard, then, with a jolt, Colezilla went stiff as the sword ripped through his chest plating. He went to punch the elite, as another few rounded the corner, plasma weapons firing. Colezilla's sparking arm was hit, and it flashed, exploding in a fireball, sending Colezilla into the ruins of red base.

Guy quickly disarmed an elite, firing its own carbine into its head. It fell, and Guy took down a couple more, before another squad of covenant troops surprised Big Z, who was pummeled by an almighty amount of plasma bolts. He fell to the ground, his armour smoking.

Unknown swore, grabbing Zoey, pulling her along, before a plasma grenade went off, knocking them both over.

Unknown's vision flashed. He saw a brute chieftain, wielding a gravity hammer, charge an unsuspecting Guy. The hammer came down, and with a sickening _CRACK_, Guy convulsed, his body slamming into the ground. His ribs were broken, having pierced both of his lungs. He began drowning in his own blood, a quiet gurgling sound emanating from his mouth.

Unknown saw Z stand, firing a pistol into the back of the brute, who turned, roaring loudly, before charging the weakened Z.

Unknown suddenly felt himself getting dragged along. He looked up, seeing Petch pulling him by the armpits.

"The…the others…" Unknown muttered.

"There is nothing we can do!" Petch shouted.

"Zoey…" Unknown muttered, his eyes flickering shut. He heard Petch curse.

"Where in the hell is she…oh no…" Petch whispered. Unknown opened his eyes wider as a shout of pain was heard. He saw Zoey, on her stomach, an elite general standing on her back. It roared, pressing its foot down harder. Unknown and Petch heard Zoey's spine snap, her scream cut off, replaced by gasp of pure pain. The elite twisted its foot, causing further pain, before, slowly, it pulled out its energy sword. Unknown tried to speak, tried to get up, but tiredness was consuming his body. Petch let out a quiet sound, cross between a growl and a sob.

The sword came down, and Zoey writhed in agony, the elite walking away from her bloodstained body, the sword still in her back. Zoey, with her last ounce of strength, reached out a hand to Unknown, ten meters away, before her hand slowly fell, her body still now.

Petch saw Z, slowly stand, having been knocked away by the hammer, nod in her direction. He knew he was done. Petch simply pulled Unknown towards the caves, hoping for a place that wasn't under attack.

Meanwhile Z was having the fight of his life. His left arm was broken, his only weapons were the pistol in his hand, and a knife strapped to his chest. He fired the pistol at the brute, the other covenant surrounding them in a circle, like this was some sort of brawl. Cheers for the brute were being shouted as it swung the hammer, missing Z by millimeters. It moved to swing, only to be shot in the back. It turned, growling, to see Colezilla, missing his left arm, holding a shotgun in his right, fire it again, and taking another step. Sparks were flying off of him. The brute, enraged, simply dropped the hammer, speeding straight at Colezilla.

Colezilla went to move, but was knocked to the ground, his shotgun sent flying into the crowd. He looked up, to see the foot of the enraged brute leader rushing down at him.

Z went wide-eyed as Colezilla's head exploded, like a frigging walnut, bolts and sheets of metal going everywhere, sparks flying off the stump of his electronic neck. Colezilla was gone. Z stumbled forward, dropping his empty pistol, shoving his knife into the neck of the brute. The result was instantaneous. The brute roared with pain, trying to shake Z off, blood running off the knife. But Z held on with grim determination. He drove the knife upwards, towards the brain of the brute, before, with a jolt, the brute fell, the tip of the knife coming into contact with its brain, bruising it. Z hit the ground, his knife still in the chieftain. He slowly stood to his feet, aware of the squad of elites moving forward.

Z looked for his teammates, saw Colezilla's headless body. He looked to his left, saw Guy's body lying on the ground, his limbs bent at unnatural angles. To Z's right, Zoey lay dead, blood spreading around her. Beyond her, Z caught a glimpse of Petch carrying Unknown, evading a squad of elites, who opened fire on them as they sprinted into the caves.

Z was forced to his knees, his arms held back two elites. A third, a general, the one that had murdered Zoey, walked up to him, energy sword in hand. It looked him up and down, then muttered a string of foreign words, only one of which Z understood. _Demon._ The general growled, bring its sword up. A chill went down Z's spine as he saw what was coming next. Without mercy, or regret, the elite brought the sword across, hard. A sickening sound followed, as Z's body fell to the floor, now headless. His head rolled away, only to be picked up by the general. The elite roared in triumph, wielding the head of Z, while the rain-washed the blood of the corpses.

Awriter led the group of four survivors, Spritey, Lili, Cogg and himself. He lit the way with his energy sword, a blue glow covering the cave walls. Cogg covered the rear, shotgun in hand. They were making progress, hoping to find if one these caves led somewhere outside the canyon. Spritey was telling jokes to keep their spirits up. However, no one spoke when they heard the sounds of explosions, gunfire, and, most horrifying of all, a scream. A human scream. They shared glances, wondering who it had been. No one dared guess.

They came to one of the small pools of water. It looked calm, peaceful, untouched; at least, they thought it was. Then Cogg saw it. As Awriter stepped in, a ripple going outwards from his leg, another ripple collided with it. A ripple, coming from the center of the pool. Cogg saw a shimmer hovering above it, went to shout, when a sword came rushing down at Awriter. In flash, there was blood. Awriter screamed in pain, falling, blood going everywhere. Something hit the ground, cause more ripples. Spritey leapt over him, sword in hand, sending her sword through the chest of the elite. Lili and Cogg caught the stumbling Awriter, who was clutching at his arm was. Then Cogg saw, it wasn't there. It lay in the water, still holding one of Awriter's energy swords in hand. Blood was pouring out of it, ragged flesh hanging off of it. Cogg fought the urge to throw up in his helmet when he saw the bone sticking out of it.

"My arm…they cut off my freaking arm…" Awriter whispered, wide-eyed, going into shock. He shook violently, blood staining his armour.

Laughter filled the cavern. Or, at least, it sounded like laughter.

Four grunts, two from the front, two from behind, ran into the cave. Plasma grenades lit them up, like suicidal Christmas trees. Spritey went wide-eyed.

"Grenade!" She shouted. Lili and Cogg moved. Lili's DMR putting holes into the heads of the grunts at the front, while Cogg spun on his heel, shotgun in one hand, pistol in the other. He headshotted the grunt at the back with his pistol, before firing the shotgun into the face of the other grunt. Their corpses fell, the grenades activating, The explosion sent Cogg crashing into the ground, which erupted in cracks, before it crumbled, sending the four soldiers tumbling into a dark pit.

Spritey awoke, to find that her face was covered in Awriter's blood. He lay off to her left, hyperventilating, blood pooling around him. She sat up, pulling him to his feet, watching him mutter the entire time.

"Holy god…oh god…my arm…" He said, still staring at his ragged stump of an arm. Lili stood, shaking rocks off of her, when a hand burst out of the rubble, grabbing Spritey's leg. She stumbled.

"What the f-" She said, drawing her sword, before Lili shouted.

"Wait!" She said, reaching into the rocks, grabbing the hand. She pulled, hard, and out came Cogg, covered in a layer of dust and pebbles.

"I hate caves…" He muttered. He stood, swaying, looking around. He pulled out his shotgun and pistol, while Lili grabbed her DMR.

Spritey ignited her sword, illuminating the entire cave. They were in a long tunnel. Next to them, on their right, a tunnel curved off to the right, while on their left, the tunnel continued straight, into darkness. Suddenly, they heard another sword get ignited. And another. And another.

Five elites stepped out of the shadows, growling. Awriter slowly leaned against a wall, clutching his wound. Spritey went blade-to-blade with one elite, while two charged at Cogg, the final two charging Lili. Gunshots and clashes of pure energy echoed through, while Awriter ignored it all, trying to stop the flow of blood coming out of his arm. A blue glow was slowly coming out of the right hand tunnel. Cackling laughter assaulted his ears.

"Oh no…" He whispered, reaching for his sword. It wasn't there. He lost it in the fall.

A grunt, covered from head to toe in plasma grenades. Awriter saw there was just enough room in between the grenades for a gap for the grunts face. With the amount of plasma grenades stuck to the grunt, it looked like a blue ghost, charging towards them.

Awriter looked for his options. He couldn't kill it, and if the others tried, the elites would kill them…

Awriter quickly accepted his last option, standing and grabbing the grunt with his good arm. A surprised look covered the grunts face when Awriter shoved himself and the grunt around the corner of the cave. Lili saw what he was doing, as did Cogg and Spirtey.

"Awriter! No!" Spritey shouted, but stopped when she quickly rolled out of the way of her elite, stabbing it in the leg.

Awriter simply closed his eyes; the grunts screams all that he heard when, without a pause, the grenades went off. The initial explosion was devastating; it disintegrated the walls around it. With nothing to hold it up, part of the roof collapsed on them, covering them in layer after layer of rock and stone.

"AWRITER!" Lili shouted. She fired her DMR, receiving a dry click from it. No ammo. She tossed it, catching the pistol Cogg quickly tossed her, firing it at the elites. One lunged, rolling forward, his sword coming down at her. She leant sideways, pinning its hand down with her foot, jamming the pistol under its throat, then fired the gun multiple times into it, the elite falling, blood pooling out everywhere. The other one came from behind, and she ducked, reloading her pistol.

Spritey fought hard with her elite, while Cogg fought another elite. He pulled out his shotgun, firing at it. It ducked, swing its sword, missing by inches. Gunshot, swish, more misses. The sword sliced through Cogg's shotgun like nothing. He lashed out with his foot, knocking the elite backwards, before drawing his knife and stabbing it through the neck. He panted, slowly standing, not seeing the figure behind him sneaking up, energy sword in hand.

Spritey panted, falling onto her back, the elite gaining the upper hand, disarming her. However, the explosion from the grunt made it stumble, and that's all that Spritey needed. She lashed out, kicking it in the face, before launching herself at it, tackling it around the waist. Its head collided with the wall, stunning it, as Spritey took its own sword and stabbed it in the chest. She dropped the sword, panting hard. She turned, to see how the others were doing.

She saw Lili firing a bullet into the eye of her last elite, so Spritey turned to Cogg, and saw an elite come up from behind, energy sword in hand. Reacting on instinct, she ran forward, diving in between Cogg and the elite, only to feel warm blood splatter across her chest.

Cogg was knocked to the ground, pain shooting through him. Blood covered the visor of his helmet. He turned, to see Spritey, standing in between him and an elite wielding an energy sword. He was at a loss for thoughts, trying to understand what happened, until he saw the blood coming out of Spritey. Blood that was running down the length of the sword.

"No!" He shouted, drawing his knife. He swiped the knife hard across the elites throat, blood shooting out. He head-butted the dying elite backwards, Cogg's helmet flying off, before throwing the knife directly into the eye of the elite. It slumped to the ground, dead.

Cogg was at Spritey's side, Lili having just finished off her last elite. The area around them was silent, the only sound being Spritey's labored breaths.

"Why so…gloom?" She asked, grinning slightly, her helmet having been knocked off during the chaos. She winced, as if the grin had hurt her. Cogg just shook his head.

"God damnit…why did you…" He started, but she stopped him.

"Hey, I wouldn't…want you in my position…right now. I made the choice, and I'm…ow…sticking with it…" Spritey said, gasping and grabbing her wound. She had lost so much blood. Lili just whispered to herself quietly.

"Come on, you don't…honestly think I'd…forgive myself if I just let you die?" Spritey smirked ever so slightly, her eyes gleaming. Cogg just shook his head. Spritey leaned up, quickly kissing his cheek. Lili caught sight of it.

"What was that I just saw?" She said.

"Nothing." Cogg and Spritey replied quickly. Lili laughed.

"Sure, nothing." Lili looked at Spritey, put a hand on her shoulder. "Get some rest." Lili sadly smiled, which Spritey returned.

"Yeah…rest…sounds like a good idea…" Spritey's eyes slowly slid shut. The cave had gone quiet again.

"Spritey?" Cogg said. He got no response. "…Spritey?" Still no response. With a shaking hand, he felt for a pulse. There was long pause before he stood, picking up Spritey's helmet, placing it by her side. He picked up his own.

"We best get moving." Cogg said to Lili, placing the helmet on his head so Lili wouldn't see the tear rolling across his face.

Petch ran. Not very fast though, with Unknown's unconscious body weighing her down. She picked up Unknown's sniper, firing one-handed at the group of elite's following her. A couple went down, but more just kept coming. Petch came to Y intersection in the caves, glanced behind her. She gave herself 5 seconds at the most to decide which way to go. Suddenly, Lili and Cogg burst out of the darkness of the left hand tunnel. They seemed stunned for a moment, before they saw the charging elite's and moved.

"I got him, help Lili!" Cogg shouted, grabbing Unknown, throwing him onto his shoulder. Petch, now with both hands, got onto one knee aiming down the sights of her rifle, taking aim, before dropping three elites. Lili leapt over her, leapfrog style, firing at the elites, taking down a couple with her pistol. The combined weight of fire was too much for the elites. The fell like marionettes that had their strings cut.

Moments later, they were moving along the right hand tunnel, Cogg and Petch carrying Unknown.

"How many people are left?" Petch asked. Lili ticked them off on her fingers.

"Lightning and Ace died first. We lost Awriter and Spritey in the caves. That's four of the fourteen gone." Lili said.

"I saw Bluetongue and JZ get killed by a group of covenant, so that's six. Plus Zoey, Colezilla, Z and Guy. That's ten. Meaning…" Petch stopped as it dawned on them.

"We're the last ones left." Cogg said. The walked along in silence, until Unknown had woken up.

"What…where am…huh…" He mumbled, before Petch made him quiet down.

"You're fine. You're with me, Lili and Cogg. We're getting you through the caves." She said. A sudden burst of light assaulted her eyes. They had gotten out of the caves, into the sunlight. However, the sun wouldn't last long. Even now, storm clouds were covering the sky, rain pouring down in buckets. They had emerged from a hole in the wall of the canyon, behind of cluster of trees. They saw groups of covenant scouting the remains of blue and red base.

"You okay to walk?" Cogg said to Unknown, who had gotten out of his grip.

"I'm fine." He said, a split second before his head snapped back, blood shooting out the back of it as an energy beam went through it like a bullet. He crumpled to the ground. Cogg and Petch turned. They saw an elite general, beam rifle in hand, roar loudly at his forces commanding them to fire.

"No! Unknown!" Petch yelled. Cogg grabbed her, pulled her back behind a rock as more plasma shots flew past them, pummeling Lili. She fell backwards, caught by Petch. A groan told them that Lili was hurt, but alive. Cogg looked at Unknown.

"There's nothing we can do! He's gone!" He said to Petch. But she wasn't listening. She had known Unknown since his first day of training here. She shoved Lili into Cogg's arms, taking his shotgun, and giving him Lili's pistol and taking Unknown's.

"Go. I've got unfinished business." She said, before firing her sniper into the skull of an elite. She charged into the oncoming hoard of covenant, ignoring Cogg's protests.

Petch fought furiously. She quickly got onto one knee, firing her sniper, shot after shot after shot. Grunts and jackals fell, before she ran out of ammo. She tossed the sniper, rolling forward, drawing the shotgun and shooting down an elite. She charged through the swarm, getting hit repeatedly by shots of plasma, never slowing down. She saw her target; saw the distinctive cone that poked out of the helmet of an elite general. The very same one, who had killed Zoey, cut off Z's head and shot Unknown through the head. She kneed a grunt down, before coming face-to-face with elite. It drew its sword, swinging it swiftly. Time seemed to slow down for Petch. She leapt over the sword, kneeing the elite in the face, drawing her pistol. She fired it into the hand holding the sword. The elite stumbled, sword on the ground.

"That was for Zoey." Petch growled. She kicked the elite again, knocking him onto his back, before turning, firing into the throats of the oncoming suicide grunts. She kicked them into the crowd, explosions and bodies going everywhere. She fired into the back of the general, multiple times, who was trying to crawl away. Blood splattered everywhere. She kicked the elite on to its back. It looked up at her, pure hate in its face.

"That was for Z." Petch said, drawing her shotgun. She aimed down the sights, directly at the head of the dying general.

"And this" She said. "Is for Unknown." She pulled the trigger, and the general's head exploded like a watermelon. She spun, firing the shotgun at the crowd. A plasma bolt hit her hand and it fell. She drew her pistol, only to get tackled by a brute. Her pistol went skidding away, the brute swinging its fist into her face. Her helmet cracked, and she head-butted the brute, rolling it off of her, drawing her knife. The brute charged, a crazy look in its eyes. Petch's knife spun, drawing a line of red across its exposed throat, and it fell, blood covering its chest. She drove the knife into the head of a grunt, before throwing it, the blade entering the neck of a fleeing elite.

She went hand to hand, taking on two brutes at once, before a plasma bolt hit her spine. She jolted, and was hit by a good shot from the brute. It got her stomach, and she doubled over, falling to the ground. The brute kicked her, again and again, and the crowd closed in, cheering, screaming, for her blood.

Cogg watched the event unfold, horror struck. He saw Petch go down in a swarm of fists, feet and teeth. He knew there was nothing he could do. He picked up Lili, who was mumbling. Blood was running down her neck. He moved her to a cluster of rocks, hiding them in the center. He let out a sigh of relief, pulling Lili's helmet off, checking the damage. He went white as snow. The left half of her face was badly burnt from the plasma shots. Charred flesh covered her face. Blood ran out of her mouth, and her eyes were squeezed shut. Burns covered her left eye.

"Lili? Can you hear me?" Cogg whispered.

"Yeah…why can't I feel my legs…" Lili opened her good eye. She looked at Cogg, and then looked around. "What happened…I remember a gunshot, then I turned and…then…" She groaned, her hand going to her head. Before Cogg could answer her, a deep sound echoed through the canyon. Cogg and Lili looked up, and saw it.

The covenant cruisers were right above the canyon now. A hole near the front of each cruiser glowed a bright orange, slowly going redder.

"A glassing cannon…" Lili muttered. Cogg's blood went cold. They were going to glass the bloody canyon. The entire cannon. All the sacrifices, all the death…it would be worth nothing!

"Oh that isn't fair…that just isn't fair…" Cogg said, leaning against a rock. Next to Lili. He let out a deep breath. "I guess this is it…" He said, looking up at the cruiser.

"Yep." She replied, closing her eyes.

"Everyone's dead except us…" Cogg sighed.

"Well, at least we killed, like, a thousand covenant before we died, right?" Lili said.

"You raise a good point." Cogg looked up at the sky, wondering. So, this is how it would end. He thought he go down saving someone life, or getting hit by the wrong end of an energy sword. A glassing seemed a bit of…overkill.

"This seems like overkill, huh Lili?" Cogg said, staring at the cannons. However, he got no response. "Lili?" He turned towards her.

Lili lay slumped against the rock, her head bowed; She showed no signs of life. She stopped breathing. She was dead.

Cogg simply shook his head. His only companion was dead. He was about to get glassed. He let out a deep breath, looking at the sky. Faces of his friends flashed across his vision.

His teammates, Petch, Unknown, Zoey, Guy, Ace, Z. The 'enemy', even if he didn't consider them that. Lightning, Bluetongue, Lili, Colezilla, Awriter, Spritey, JZ.

A smile crossed his face, as he realized, he would see them all again. And, on that thought, he closed his eyes, and waited for the end.

The end came a minute later. A super hot white-orange beam hit Blood Gulch. Others joined it, and together, they devastated the place, killing everything, from the plant life, to their own soldiers, still in the canyon. They only killed one human soldier however. The only solider who was still alive at that point. Soon, Blood Gulch, a deserted canyon in the middle of nowhere, was gone.

**FINALLY! IT'S DONE! You do not know how long it took to write this. I kept getting stuck, I kept redoing it, oh god…Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. Oh sweet mercy it's done…Wow, 10,146 words, not including the authors notes. Mother of god, that's the most I've written for a single chapter. Phew…I'm thinking of doing a zombie story of RvB: AE. Anyone like that idea? Well, I'm going to go cheer with joy now. Good day, Cogg out.**


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